Drones

The U.S. Air Force has released the first images of its latest combat drone, the XQ-58A Valkyrie. The new aircraft, which went from concept to first test flight in 2.5 years, “behaved as expected” on its first test flight this week, according to the Air Force. Read More >>

Investigators from Sussex Police and helpers from the government have leaked their current thinking on last year's Gatwick shutdown, with investigators now leaning towards blaming a furious former or perhaps current employee for causing the aerial melt. Read More >>

The drone menace has gone international, with flights at Dubai International Airport – only home to the world's busiest international terminals – suspended this morning due to reports of rogue drones in the area. Read More >>

Recent flight delays at airports in the US and UK have given us a glimpse at the threats and the headaches that drones can cause. In the days leading up to the recent Super Bowl, the US Federal Aviation Administration and the FBI warned the public repeatedly against flying drones near the stadium because the authorities view them as safety hazards and potential terrorist threats. Read More >>

Civilian use of drones in sensitive airspaces have recently been causing major issues and flight delays at airports in the UK and US. After flights were grounded at Gatwick Airport and Newark Liberty International Airport in the US state of New Jersey over drone scares, there’s a growing market for technology that can prevent such disruptions. Read More >>

In an incident similar to ones which shut down the UK’s Gatwick Airport before Christmas last month and another at Heathrow in early January, Newark Liberty International Airport grounded all departing and incoming flights on Tuesday after two pilots spotted a drone. Read More >>

DJI is the latest tech company to fall victim to vendor corruption in China. On Monday, it acknowledgedthat a group of employees had managed to inflate the costs of parts in order to funnel away profits for their own benefit. The privately-owned drone maker estimated that the scheme cost it an astonishing £113 million. Read More >>

It was a cool day in Dallas last November, when a small quadcopter lifted itself off the ground of an American Airlines hangar and buzzed towards a Boeing 777. The drone, a DJI Mavic Enterprise, had been outfitted with a spotlight, but otherwise looked a lot like what you might see your neighbour flying in the backyard. The remarkable difference was that this particular aircraft had been programmed to inspect the hull of the much larger aircraft, the jet. It could do in a matter of minutes what it would take a maintenance crew hours to do. It was, in its own way, a tiny flying robot with a job. Read More >>

A prominently placed industry insider within the drone universe saw all the Gatwick fuss coming, he says, adding that Gatwick should've done more to prevent the airport outage from happening and really ought to have got up and running again in less than three days. Read More >>